HORSE POWER

Seven-time champ Hamilton lined up to bring the glory years back to Ferrari

LEWIS HAMILTON’S decision to leave Mclaren for Mercedes was a massive gamble – but choosing to quit the Silver Arrows for Ferrari falls into the ‘no brainer’ category.

It is easy to forget how seismic a shock it was when Hamilton turned his back on Mclaren, the team he joined as a 13-year-old and where he won his first world title in 2008.

A further six drivers’ championships and 82 wins for Mercedes means the astonishment has long since faded.

Hamilton went all in, put the best years of his career on the line. And his reward paid off in a way even he could not have envisaged.

When the world awoke yesterday to the news that the biggest transfer story on deadline day would not come from football, rather Formula One, the shockwaves were felt globally once more.

But is it really that much of a surprise that Hamilton has chosen to sign off his glittering Formula One career with the most sparkly team of them all?

After all, news of clandestine chats with Ferrari chairman John

Elkann emerged last

May. Then there was the revelation from

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner that Hamilton’s dad Anthony had been on the blower.

Clearly Hamilton had been pondering his next move for some time. In the end, he opted to sign a new two-year contract with Mercedes, the kicker being the £50million-aseason contract includes an ‘escape clause’.

It represents an astonishingly clever piece of negotiation by Hamilton and his advisors.

Scenario one is that Mercedes have finally got to grips with the regulations for the coming campaign and can provide Hamilton with a car he pilots to an eighth world title, before departing for a swansong with Ferrari.

Scenario two is that Mercedes will once again be left trailing in Red Bull’s wake, leaving Hamilton clinging to the hope he could still eclipse Michael Schumacher’s haul of titles at the very team where the German won five of his seven crowns.

What could throw a spanner in the works for scenario one is the treatment Hamilton receives from his employers in his final year. Logic suggests that such is their debt of gratitude to Hamilton, it will be a level playing field with George Russell (below, with Lewis). The approach at Mercedes has been not to favour one driver over another unless a clear leader emerges. It is not something they have needed to worry about in recent seasons.

But if there is an upturn, how far would Russell need to get his nose in front this year to be granted some special treatment?

Ferrari have shown over the years they are only too happy to have an undisputed lead driver – just ask the last Brit to race for them, Eddie Irvine.

One presumes Charles Leclerc (above, with Lewis) was told of the very real prospect his teammate for 2025 could be a seventime world champion, before he put pen to paper on a new deal with the Maranello outfit last week.

You can rest assured that Hamilton has no intention of playing second fiddle to anyone.

Ironically, his five wins at Ferrari’s spiritual home Monza have often been greeted with boos and jeers from their fanatical fans.

But if Hamilton can bring the glory years back to the Scuderia then immortality will surely beckon in the eyes of the Tifosi.

‘You can rest assured that Hamilton has no intention of playing second fiddle to anyone’